Concierge service stems from woman's struggles with time

Monday

Sep 24, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 24, 2007 at 1:22 PM

PLYMOUTH - Raising two autistic children born a year apart, Holly Nappi Collins knows a thing or two about the stresses facing today’s families. ‘‘I had my two kids and my family was not around - they live in Franklin - so even trying to go out and get milk was a struggle,’’ Collins said. ‘‘I was exhausted every day.’’

By A.J. Bauer

Raising two autistic children born a year apart, Holly Nappi Collins knows a thing or two about the stresses facing today’s families. ‘‘I had my two kids and my family was not around - they live in Franklin - so even trying to go out and get milk was a struggle,’’ Collins said. ‘‘I was exhausted every day.’’

The experience gave Collins an idea: Why not create a concierge service, based on the services frequently offered to guests of hotels, to aid busy mothers? Busy raising her own children with her husband, Stephen, it took Collins 10 years to bring her dream to fruition.

The 40-year-old Plymouth resident founded My Creative Concierge, a service designed to lend a hand to anyone who needs one - busy parents or single professionals - last August.

The service is Collins’ second crack at starting her own business, having founded The Naked Girl, a homemade lotion and aromatherapy shop in Plymouth three years ago. That shop closed last year, and Collins described the endeavor as kind of a test run for My Creative Concierge.

‘‘My heart wasn’t really into the lotion company as much,’’ Collins said. ‘‘I wanted to explore how to run a business, how to go about it. I had time and I love aromatherapy and essential oils, and I learned as I went.’’

Collins said she brings the marketing and other business skills she learned selling lotions to her work as a concierge. She said selling a service is easier than selling a product.

The services Collins offers are virtually limitless. She runs errands, does personal shopping, acts as a virtual assistant, walks dogs, plans parties and helps people organize their homes. She doesn’t clean, but like other services she either cannot or does not do herself, Collins has a series of other people and businesses to which she will contract the job.

‘‘One client asked me if I could come over and cut hair,’’ Collins said. ‘‘So I said that I could hire somebody for them. You never know what you’re going to be asked.’’

Collins charges $20 an hour for her services, with an additional fee of $10 if the jobs requires traveling more than 30 miles. She currently boasts a half-dozen regular customers based throughout the South Shore, but her client list is growing.

While Collins said she has no concrete expansion plans, she does hope to eventually secure office space. She currently operates out of her home..

‘‘I help people, that’s the bottom line,’’ she said. ‘‘If you can’t do it, I can.’’

More information on My Creative Concierge is available on mycreativeconcierge.com.

A.J. Bauer of The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.) may be reached at ajbauer@ledger.com.